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Who should have access to permit list?

TODAY’S MODERATOR

In the days following the shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn., a suburban New York newspaper published a map with the names and addresses of gun permit holders, numbering in the thousands. The map’s publication was not greeted warmly — to put it mildly — and the newspaper eventually took the list of names and addresses off its website.

To prevent that from ever happening in Ohio, state Sen. Joe Uecker, R-Clermont County, is sponsoring a bill that would prohibit journalists from seeing records of Ohioans who possess permits to carry concealed weapons.

Ohio’s original conceal-carry law permitted only journalists to obtain lists of permit holders. The law was later revised to allow journalists only to view the records; note-taking or copying isn’t permitted. Uecker’s bill would shut that door entirely.

What do you think? Should these records be available to the press? To the public? Or do you think this information should remain confidential so that criminals don’t learn which households possibly contain guns? Let me know what you think. Send email to mwilliams@coxohio.com.

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